Quality Assurance

At Chartway, Quality Assurance is the cornerstone of our business. Every step of the manufacturing process is carefully monitored and we maintain detailed batch traceability records for all parts. Specifications and tolerances are inspected utilising independently calibrated measuring equipment including CMM and Shadowgraph.

We are fully ISO 9001:2015 Certified . Our quality systems are regularly monitored by AFNOR UK and we have sustained our registration since 1996 so the ISO and its requirements are very much part of our fabric.

Quality Decoded

Our staff have the expertise and experience to handle all levels of quality control, from the minimum industry requirements through to Process FMEA and PPAP

Initial Sample Inspection Report

The Initial Sample Inspection Report (ISIR) is an important part of the sampling process. It details the results of the tests at the “initial sample”. Before a product goes into full production, it must be produced via a series production process under realistic conditions and submitted to the customer for reviewing.

This first product batch is called an initial sample. ISIR provides evidence that the delivered products meet the customer’s quality requirements. Important information on the requirements for product and quality such as dimensional data and material grades as well as all the necessary tests are summarized in the ISIR

First Article Inspection Report

Similar to ISIR an FAI should also be conducted if the production process used to make the part changes. For example, the specifications of the part may remain the same, but the production operation might be changed for efficiency. Production process changes must be verified through a First Article Inspection to ensure all requirements are still met.

First article Inspections are conducted on individual parts and assemblies. If there are changes to a sub-component within an assembly, a FAI should be conducted to ensure that it too performs as required. For an assembly FAI all the design characteristics that are called out on the assembly design documentation would need to be checked

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis

FMEA is a structured approach to discovering potential failures that may exist within the design of a product. Failure modes are the ways in which a process can fail. Effects are the ways that these failures can lead to waste, defects or harmful outcomes for the customer.

The process is split into categories: severity, occurrence and detection. Each category is then given a score on a scale of 1-10, where the score denotes how severe a failure is, how often it could occur, and how likely the detection process could catch the failure

Production Part Approval Process

Level 1 – Part Submission Warrant (PSW) only submitted to the customer.
Level 2 – PSW with product samples and limited supporting data.
Level 3 – PSW with product samples and complete supporting data.
Level 4 – PSW and other requirements as defined by the customer.
Level 5 – PSW with product samples and complete supporting data available for review at the supplier’s manufacturing location. Complete documentationPPAP incorporates both ISIR and FMEA along with other elements such as proof of calibration on checking aids and PFMEA (Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis)

Contact Our Quality Team

Stephen Hunter

Quality Engineer

David Hunter

Quality Engineer